Use of sexuality-focused entertainment media in sex education

The literature on the impact of entertainment media on sex education is typically pathology-focused, unclear regarding the effects of such usage, and void of dialogue between those who actually work in the areas of sexuality education and entertainment. To address this gap, this paper is the product of joint authorship between media figures from varied sexually-focused programming fields and academics who teach and conduct research in the areas of sexuality and relational health. The authors focus on the role that various forms of entertainment media play in educating members of the public and college classrooms in the areas of sex and sexuality. Additionally, examples of the inclusion of entertainment media in educational contexts are discussed.     

Pornography use and sexism among heterosexual men

ABSTRACT

The idea that pornography promotes sexism is a commonly purported one. This study employed an online sample of heterosexual men (N = 323) to investigate the relationship between pornography use (in terms of both overall level of pornography use and use of violent and/or humiliating pornography) and old-fashioned and modern sexism. The moderating effects of agreeableness and perceived realism of pornography were also assessed. Level of general pornography use and use of violent and/or humiliating pornography was not predictive of either sexism measure. Agreeableness was negatively predictive of both sexism measures, whereas perceived realism was positively predictive of sexism. Agreeableness and perceived realism did not moderate the relationship between level of pornography use and any of the outcome measures.     

‘Everywhere they say that it’s harmful but they don’t say how,so I’m asking here’: young people,pornography and negotiations with notions of risk and harm

Debate about pornography and minors has mainly centred on questions of control, regulation and media policy; the urge to protect children from dangers of sexually explicit content being the primary motivator of these conversations. Instead of discussing the use of pornography by minors in the light of relevant research findings, public discourse on these issues is more usually shaped by views of sexual cultures as inherently dangerous to minors, and young people as vulnerable, easily harmed, and endangered by the media. This paper builds on data consisting of 4212 questions about sexuality that were sent by young people in Finland to experts on sexual health. Only 64 (1.5%) of these contributions explicitly focused on pornography. The small number of porn-related submissions suggests that for young people there are other more important concerns in the field of sexuality than pornography, on which adult guidance is sought. This paper argues that young people’s perceptions of pornography are more diverse than is typically assumed in public debate. Young people challenge risk talk by constantly referring to the vagueness of the alleged harm that characterises the discourse of danger that can be found in much public discussion. According to the findings of this study, blurry notions of harm bother young people more than the actual pornographic content they encounter.     

Embodied engagements with online pornography

Even though sexual arousal is a central feature in browsing online pornography, embodiment has largely gone unexamined in much of the research on pornography in information studies and human–computer interaction. Through existential phenomenology, which emphasizes a synthesis of cognitive reflection and embodied experience, this article examines how our embodied engagements with the technological apparatus of the computer help reconstitute the way we feel time, objects of desire, and pleasure in the process of browsing online pornography.     

加强青少年性健康教育 引领网络文化和谐发展

网络已经成为现代人生活中重要的组成部分,网络文化也逐渐成为影响社会发展的一个重要因素。但是,网上一些淫秽色情信息危害青少年的身心健康,并影响网络文化的健康发展。而性是人类心灵深处的东西,好的性教育应该使受教育者的性行为、性心理体现出高尚、纯洁的特点,这是一种思想、情感的高级教育。因此,要加强青少年性健康教育,用社会主义核心价值体系引领网络文化和谐发展。只有综合、立体、积极地开展性教育,以培养科学的性知识为基础,以培养健康的性态度为核心,才能使学生正确对待性生理和性心理的问题。     

Sex,Cannibals, and the Language of Cool: Indonesian Tales of the Phone and Modernity

In Indonesia mobile technology has come at the end of 35 years of the Suharto regime, and in its aftermath an era of new openness. Not surprisingly mobile phones are by many Indonesians associated with the new freedoms of this post-1998 period, facilitating newly emergent youth cultures, a hip mobile lifestyle as well as experiments with novel sexual identities. In a country characterized by stark contrasts—between center and periphery, city and countryside, and the rich and the poor—this has at the same time resulted in an uneven spread of technology, and thus in the coexistence of very diverse cellular markets. Through deliberating the pros and cons of mobile technology, new possibilities the phone seems to offer, and the often creative solutions people find in gaining access to mobility, it is shown how Indonesians try coming to terms with the otherwise abstract notion of (post)modernity.     

Letters to the editor

This study examines editorial photography in nine major erotica magazines to determine how pictures vary as a function of the social class, gender and sexual preference of the intended readership. The analysis reveals that upwardly‐mobile, heterosexual men are treated to idealized images, whereas working‐class, heterosexual men are presented with more mundane yet highly‐sexualized images. Heterosexual women are provided with photographs of nude males in a low‐sexual context. Magazines for homosexual men present images, except for gender, very similar to those created for upwardly‐mobile, heterosexual men. These patterns are discussed from a functionalist perspective to show how erotica magazines contribute to social‐order maintenance.     

The complex experience of child pornography survivors

This research explores the complex experiences of survivors of child pornography production. The study was conducted among a convenience sample of child pornography adult survivors (N = 133), using an online survey which included a series of open-ended questions. Nearly half of respondents reported that they felt the production of sexual images caused specific problems that were different from the problems caused by other aspects of the abuse. Nearly half of the sample worried all the time that people would think they were willing participants or that people would recognize them, one-third refused to talk about the images and 22% denied there were images. The qualitative analysis identified three major themes which emerged from the survivor's perspective as adults: Guilt and shame, their ongoing vulnerability and an empowerment dimension the images sometimes brought. Recommendations for further research and additional implications are discussed.     

Psychopathology among adult survivors of child pornography

BackgroundThe majority of studies investigating child pornography have focused on conceptualizing the problem and the harm of the crime, evaluating the risk for child pornography offending, or discuss preventive measures. Little is known about survivors of this type of crime.ObjectiveThis research explores the relationship between child pornography victimization and psychopathology in adulthood. Specifically, we examined the contribution of emotional reactions at the time of the crime and shortly after (guilt, embarrassment and avoidance) on psychopathology among adult survivors of child pornography.Participants and settingThe study was conducted among 107 child pornography adult survivors, aged 18–63 (M = 39.48, SD = 12.31). All participants were sexually molested during the crime.MethodsAn online survey was completed by a convenience sample of adult survivors of child pornography.ResultsFindings indicate survivor’s current age predicted current psychopathology symptoms. Survivor’s emotional reactions of guilt and embarrassment at the time of the crime and shortly after were significantly associated with elevated psychopathology, above and beyond demographic characteristics and features of the crime.ConclusionsThe present results suggest the way survivors of child pornography react to the crime might shape their mental health in the long term.